Fred: Yes...they would bite if you could catch them, which is very difficult. We have to watch very carefully this time of year for rattlesnakes. We saw two four-footers last month at Quartz Mountain.

On Saturday had a nice hike out to <A HREF="http://www.summitpost.com/mountains/mountain_link.pl/mountain_id/1796">Rose Peak</a> along the Ohlone Wilderness Trail from Sunol. Saw alot of birds and the herd of Tule Elk (along Calaveras Road) that roam the hils between Sunol and Del Valle. Left early so had the trail to myself, except for one group of backpackers who had camped at at the backpack area, on the way out. On the way back I had two vehicles headed up the road. They were setting up aid stations for a 50km run from Ohlone College along the trail to Del Valle Reservoir. They said there would be 150 runners. Bob (snwburd) did you run? Your walk time may be as fast as some runners.

150 runners? Man, there are more psychos out there than I thought.

Nice lizard mtntrail! My iguana would be jealous so I didn't let him see the picture.
As my first weekend home, my dear friend and I polished off 3 bottles of Merlot ranging in quality and price no doubt; by the time we got to the "FAT Bast@rd" bottle, I could've been drinking toilet water! Climbing plans for Tahquitz went quickly down the commode as did the jalapeno dip I overly-indulged in.
Looks like mid-week fun is the name of the game, either soloing at Tahquitz or hiking up San Jacinto Wednesday.....I don't have a job yet!

Semper Fi

Hiked Eldorado Canyon with my daughter on Saturday, climbed Bear Peak with the group on Sunday-wild climb and great fun.

Hey Rockcritter, I looked at your profile page. Was that pic taken on an aircraft carrier or where? Did you just get out of the Marines?

Yes, I was on an aircraft carrier baby sitting N Korea but no I did not get out, I am on my way to 1stSgt indoc in VA, but I shall return!
BTW my iguana gave your lizard the "umpf"! He knows he's the king!

Rockcritter,
Actually, mtntrail2 and I have an iguana "jub jub," who is in the custody of our daughter. After caring for jub jub for two years...I agree...they definately know they are king.

I had a great weekend with 9 friends. Firstly 5 of us drived from Madrid to a little village placed just under the lakes called Lagunas de Neila (Burgos), where we had hired a rural house. Had lunch and left to the parking (1.860 m) of the lakes, we hiked to the highest peak there, called Campiña (2.049 m). Then went along the bast ridge to the peak 2.009 m into the fog, we had to use the map, compass and altimeter in order to find the lakes and the return trail. On the way back we could see many deers and some roe deers on both sides of the forest trails. We finally met the rest of our friends in the village.

The second day we drived to the upper parking (1.760 m) of Laguna Negra (Soria), a nice glacier origined lake located in Picos de Urbión, Sistema Ibérico. Had lunch in a little meadow at the shore and left to summit Pico de Urbión (2.229 m). 4 of the 7 people who tried reached the top. It was sunny and warm, and they remained some snow patches bigger than those on Campiña. We found few people when we approached the summit because it was a bit late. At descent we met our friend Laura, she had been waiting for us to do the final section. Isabel and Nani had decided to go back when over the cliffs above Laguna Negra, she had not the adequate footwear but I must thank them because if they weren't returned we hadn't fitted in my car. Then we met our friends in a village, had a coffee and drived back to our rural house. We did a tasty "raclette" for dinner that day.

The final day we went back to Lagunas de Neila because some of my friends still hadn't seen them. Neither we could at all the first day due to the fog. Then we drived southwards to Cañón del Río Lobos (Soria), a nice little canyon with a hermitage inside and some caves in its walls. It was hot (near 30 ºC) and sunny. Finally we drived back to Madrid having a stop on the shore of Embalse (reservoir) of Pedrezuela, Madrid, in order of not get into the sunday's traffic jams.

Just a little iggy info - I caught my female ig laying eggs on the roof! How gross!
Anyway, after summiting and running down San Jacinto, I took my destroyed toes to Tahquitz and did some multi-pitch play with another fun-loving soul. We had a beautiful day on the rock and my toes are not forgiving me yet.

I headed up to Matterhorn Peak. Made it to near the base of the East Couloir. The summit push was thwarted because I had left my cell phone at the Hays Street Cafe in Bridgeport and had to get back by 3 p.m. in order to retrieve it. Arrrrrgh!!!!! It was a fun trip anyway, I'll be back

My weekend? Frustrated to be here in Santa Cruz amongst the Memorial Day crowds, with no good rock in sight. On Sunday I checked out the crumbly, mossy, ultra-short, sandstone routes at the near by Castle Rock and thought...why bother? Just a few more days and I am out of here...Yosemite and Courtright Res., here I come!

I'm glad to see you all had great weekends though!

Went to Fresno Dome to yard up the fine granite there. The snow level was right at the trailhead. Had to park further down. Climbed a route Roger Hayashi and I put up during the summer of 2000 ('Buggery On The High Seas' .10b/c). Forgot how sequencial the opening crux was (fell 3 times before getting past it)!! Pursued some mellow yet runout climbs on the south face. Ended the days with some Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout (Anderson Valley), some steak flanks and the amazing alpineglow cast upon Fresno Dome!!

Lover's Leap, so sweet. Traveler Buttress, Hospital Corner, Stem Meister, Power Lust, Surrealistic Direct, and The Line. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday present.

I had a couple pints of Mirror Pond Pale Ale which was on tap at the Strawberry Lodge. Pretty good stuff - kind of a fruity hoppiness to it. They serve a decent version of fish 'n' chips at the bar.

JD - Happy Birthday! I'm glad to hear the Leap offered up some great climbing. What a perfect way to spend your birthday. And as a matter of fact, I am leaving for Lover's Leap tonight!